| Love for Sale (O Céu de Suely) |
| © 2007 by C. E. Murphy. All Rights Reserved. |
As Thomas Wolfe so famously pointed out, you can't go home again, as
Hermina (Hermina Guedes), the heroine of Karim Aïnouz's sophomore
feature, LOVE FOR SALE (O CÉU DE SUELY), discovers. At 21, she is
already a wife and mother and she has ventured back to her hometown of
Iguatu in Brazil's Northeast with the son in tow. Ostensibly, she is visiting her
grandmother and aunt while awaiting the arrival of her husband from São Paulo.
It become very obvious, though, that her spouse is not coming. Left to her
own devices, Hermina has to figure out what to do.
To support herself and her child, she sells raffle tickets for things like a
bottle of whiskey. One of her childhood friends, Georgina (Georgina Castro)
has become a prostitute and Hermina briefly toys with that idea, before hitting
on a better plan. She will stage a raffle in which she is the prize. Promising one
night of paradise to the winner and calling herself "Suely," she sets off on the
venture. Her ultimate goal is to get enough money to leave town and start
afresh.
There are several things that Hermina had not counted on, though,
including the attentions of João (João Miguel), who has long harbored
feelings for her, and the morality of the locals who looks askance at the
women plying their trade but object to a raffle, in particular her own
grandmother.
LOVE FOR SALE unfolds slowly and there are some tangential moments
that the filmmaker includes that merely pad out the running time. Guedas,
though, proves to be a very strong performer, holding the screen and making
the audience care about her character, whose inchoate yearnings are
sometimes mystifyingly obtuse. The audience never finds out why she wants
to flee the town, even though she has the potential for a stable relationship
with João. Still, the film succeeds more often than it fails and it does feature
some stunning cinematography by Walter Carvalho (whose previous credits
include CENTRAL STATION and CARANDIRÚ).
Rating: B-
| Hermila Guedes as Hermila in LOVE FOR SALE Directed by Karim Aïnouz, Brazil/France/Germany, 2006; 90m Photo Credit: Strand Releasing |